The Bayelsa Prosperity Cup which began initially as The Restoration Cup in 2015, is today regarded as the largest grassroots football tournament in the country but the competition’s Project Director General, Ono Akpe counts the gains over the years even as he reckoned that the c residents of the state are desirous of having additional sporting programmes as he fielded questions with reporters . Excerpts…
How did you conceive the idea of this big grassroots tournament?
The Bayelsa State Governors Cup also known as Prosperity Cup is a tournament held in support of the Governor, Senator Douye Diri’s efforts to positively engage youths through sports, develop football talents at the community level, stimulate youth empowerment and enhance overall grassroots development thus engendering inter-communal interaction, peace and unity in the state and beyond. Initially known as The Restoration Cup, it commenced in 2015 during the tenure of former Governor Seriake Dickson with 110 community teams from clubs, religious bodies, and tertiary institutions. This is the sixth year but the 5th edition of the prosperity cup, which is equally the Bayelsa Governor’s football tournament. We started planning in 2014 but commenced fully in 2015 with the kick-off at the newly built Nembe City Stadium in Nembe, which our opening match was used to declare that stadium open. This was because the Ultra-Modern Samson Siasia Stadium was being remodelled. It was a tournament conceived to positively engage the youths of Bayelsa to become more productive, harness the existing talent which abounds in the state and to equally connect the people, and the communities with the Government in Bayelsa. That was the basic idea we had when we started in 2014.
The exciting thing about the tournament in Bayelsa is that we played across the entire state. In all the eight Local Government Areas, matches were played from the beginning of the tournament till we rounded off the qualifying stages. From the coastal town of Agge to Azzuzuama, Imiringi to Odi, to Nembe and Akasa before the final stages with the last 32 teams coming down to Yenagoa, the state capital, it was a festival of football all through.
How have you been mobilizing the funds for the Prosperity Cup considering the logistics and number of teams involved in the competition?
Like I said earlier, the Bayelsa Governors Cup which was initially called the Restoration Cup got so big and so popular when we had 165 teams contesting for honours, and the former Minister of Youth and Sports, Sunday Dare, who was our Special Guest of Honour in that years’ finals in Yenagoa, called it the largest grassroots football tournament in the country. That excited us. And that equally motivated us to reach out to those who needed to support us. The support has been tremendous from the Bayelsa State Government led by the sports-loving Governor Douye Diri, who has done so much for youth development in the state. The governor is ably supported by the hard-working Deputy Governor Senator Lawrence Ewrudjakjpo and his Commissioner of Sports, Daniel Igali who has in a short time, taken the sports sector to enviable heights. With a burning desire to transform the youths of the state and indeed the region, a lot has been achieved in this sector.
For instance, Governor Diri has taken the state from the middle position to the second position at the last National Sports Festival in Asaba having come third in the edition held in Edo State as we finished ahead of larger and other dominating teams like Lagos, Edo, and Kano States. He also initiated and started the Unity Games in the state, which is a state-sponsored sports festival. Under him, the state became the first and only state to have won the National Cups for the men and women’s categories in 2021. Our Governor also hosted and sponsored the National Scrabble Championship and wrestling championship, amongst others. He indeed has the touch of a winner.
Aside the state government , how much support have you derived from the private set up?
We have had support from Linkage Insurance company, Sterling Bank, and other organizations within the region. We have also got the support of Century Group, the oil service company, Bayelsa Board of Internal Revenue, and the Local Content Management Development Board; they have done well for us. They have supported us twice. But surely they can do better
We have not gotten the support of the IOCs like Shell, AITEO, Agip and others exploiting crude and Gas from Bayelsa even as it is worthy to note that Oloibiri in Bayelsa which has a team is the first place where oil was drilled in Commercial quantity and sold in the international market by Shell. Unfortunately, despite our concerted efforts, they have not been able to do anything for us. The NNPC and the LNG have also not been able to do anything for us. We expect that more organizations and corporate entities will do more for us as their Corporate Social Responsibility. They should know that the youths are involved, and it unites the state more when they engage in meaningful activities to ensure the greater success of the tournament. That is the position for now.
The last edition in 2022 reportedly attracted scouts from Europe, the Middle East, Europe, and Australia; what was the magic?
The last edition attracted not only international football scouts but also attracted a lot of local scouts as well. It was outstanding. We had scouts from France, the Aspire Academy, Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa, the Scout from Australia who commented that they came to Nigeria to look for players because their league did not have Nigerians and they felt it was a challenge that any league without Nigerian players is not seen as been outstanding. They needed to get a lot of Nigerian players. They came in and picked up several local players from the tournament. It was a good outing for us and for our young boys. Quite a good number of the players were selected and screened but some had documentation problems. We had about 11 of them expected to travel to Europe to places like Serbia, Asia, and other European countries. More have been snapped up by the local teams in Nigeria, including but not limited to Bayelsa United. In tournament, it is fast turning out to be the true feeder pool for Bayelsa teams. It is important to let you know that in the 2019 edition, the team was taken to Cape Verde, where they played the African Youth Cup. They came third in that tournament. That team was kept together. They came back and won the Bayelsa league cup, the first time an outside team could do so. Outstanding talents that abound in Bayelsa have been exposed through this tournament. The youths are engaged, the coaches are engaged, scouts, and the medical teams, and this is creating a lot of depth in the skills of sportsmen and administrators in Bayelsa. We hope to move with our scouts and the teams in years to come. This tournament engages over 10,000 footballers, administrators, coaches, referees, and other allied supporters for over three months the tournament runs.
What are your plans for the future?
Last year, we had 210 teams. It was astronomical, and you could imagine what it takes to manage that number of teams in a tournament. This year, we had 214 teams, which confirmed it as not only the largest Grassroots Football Tournament in the country but indeed in Africa.
We plan to hold a refresher course for the referees and match commissioners in Bayelsa by FIFA-accredited officials. This will improve their knowledge of the rules of the game and strengthen their skills for optimum performance in this beautiful game of football. We have equally proposed a mini-coaching course for our coaches to update them on the laws and rules of the game. We believe in a well-informed society, free and fair officiating, and transparent conduct of all involved. This will improve the skill, management, and handling of players and respect for the officiating officials.
Again, we intend to have our international scouts coming in again. We have been flooded with calls from various countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Oceania. We are also in talks with academies in Europe, Asia, and the Eastern bloc. The scouts from KAZ Academy in Europe wanted to pick a lot from the tournament so they could be drilled and moved to teams that needed their service. They wanted players within the range of 15-17 years. In that academy, they go through football and school at the same time. We want more academies to come and take our boys to go through good schools and to foreign clubs thereafter. We want them to have an education and a career in football so they can have something to fall back on when their playing days are over.
We want to introduce the female tournament segment. Eight teams will feature in the final stages in Yenagoa. You know that Bayelsa Queens is another high-flying team on the continent. They won the female league as well as the Federation Cup. With that, we expect to get new players who will be snapped by the local and foreign scouts and equally put in schools where they will combine football with education.
What would you say is the significance of the Bayelsa Prosperity Cup?
One good and interesting thing is that the players so selected from this tournament are very young. In some cases, we saw boys as young as 13, 14, and 15 from the nooks and crannies of Bayelsa. For instance, the two boys that were on their way to Serbia when I interviewed them were from the farthest part of Southern Ijaw. These are communities, and to access them will take you close to three or four hours by boat. Luckily, the State Government has continued the massive senatorial road with multiple bridges to Southern Ijaw.
These are the talents that abound despite the challenges of navigating to and from their places through rivers and the Atlantic Ocean. We were able to bring them to Yenagoa, and they have not regretted it. It is exciting because the tournament is for boys and girls between the ages of 14 to 21. Since it is a community-based tournament too, we allow about five overage players to be part of it. Though that is not the focus, the focus is on the young and exciting talents from Azzuama to Sagbama, Nembe, and Brass Yenagoa.
I must acknowledge the support of the former governor of Bayelsa Senator Henry Seriake Dickson who initiated the tournament and supported it for three editions before he completed his second term in office and equally took the players to the African Youth Championship in Cape Verde. I must equally salute the incumbent sports-loving Senator Douye Diri, who has given us the backing, financially and morally, to ensure that this tournament has grown and is sustained.
With his ever-hard-working Deputy Governor Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo and the Olympic Champion, Hon Daniel Igali, they have overseen every activity of this tournament and made sure that things run smoothly. We must thank him for his support, which has made the tournament a resounding success. Indeed, we must say that the Prosperity Cup has turned Bayelsa State into a Mecca of football for our youths not only in the Nigeria Delta region but across the country as a whole.
